In December 1842, the British Pudingcha recommended Captain Buff as the first British consul in Shanghai, and entrusted him with an important task - to find a permanent settlement for the British. On the evening of November 8, 1843, Bafour arrived in Shanghai with six assistants. Early the next morning, he rushed to the Daotai Yamen to meet with the local magistrate of Shanghai, Daotai Gong Mujiu. Bafur offered to lease a piece of land in Shanghai to build a British consulate. This request made Gong Mujiu break out in a cold sweat, thinking that in the future, if the Chinese and foreign people live together, it will inevitably cause some chaos, and then the court will blame themselves for not being able to afford it. Gong Mujiu refused Bafur's request, but Bafur was unwilling to give up, and for several days, on the one hand, he sent people to look for rental houses in the city, and on the other hand, he constantly put pressure on Gong Mujiu, and threatened to set up tents in the city to live and work if he couldn't find a house. When the negotiations between the two sides reached an impasse, a Chinese businessman approached Bafur and offered to rent his house to Bafur for the consulate. As if he had found a lifeline, Bafur immediately rented the 52-room mansion. The matter has come to this point, and Gong Mujiu has no choice but to acquiesce after reporting to the court on the grounds that it does not disturb the people here.

Soon after Bafur settled in Shanghai, he issued a proclamation announcing the official opening of Shanghai on November 17, 1843. Within a month and a half of the opening of the port, 11 foreign companies had already poured into Shanghai. British missionaries, doctors, consular staff, and others also arrived. At the same time, adventurers, nouveau riche, compradors, financiers, businessmen, and even gang gangsters from all over the country also gathered. For a time, the whistle in the Huangpu River continued, and the lights on the side of the street were bright all night; Suits and leather shoes and robes and horse coats rub shoulders side by side, and the local dialect of the Quartet is mixed with European and American languages.

The subsequent development of events was just as Gong Mujiu expected, and the Chinese people who had never seen the Western scenery did not even let the foreigners eat and dress. There are often a large number of curious Chinese onlookers, and they almost watch the foreigners go to the toilet. No one could stand such onlookers, the contradiction between China and the Ocean broke out, and a missionary finally couldn't bear it anymore, he didn't make a move, but let one of his believers take action. This believer, a Chinese, shot at the crowd of onlookers, only to be twisted by his compatriots and sent to the Yamen. Zuihou Bafur actually used warships to threaten the Manchu government, and Gong Mujiu had to release Daoqian.

Then Bafur struck while the iron was hot and asked Gong Mujiu again to buy a piece of land. Huayang separated, so as not to cause further trouble. As a result, Gong Mujiu started the leasing process of the first concession in modern Chinese history. After two years of arduous negotiations, the British obtained a concession of about 830 acres stretching from Pidgin in the south, Lijiachang in the north, Huangpu River in the east, and Jielu in the west. The annual rent per mu is 1500 Wen. The promulgation of the charter marked the emergence of the first concession in modern Chinese history, the British Concession

Two years after the appearance of the concession, the number of foreigners was only 134. The living facilities in the concession are also not sound. The building is basically a shanty town. The first expatriates to come to Shanghai. The British botanist Fu Jun once recalled the Burrow where he lived: "Every time it rains in the morning, the clothes are wet." When it snows, it flies out and enters through the window. It was not until the beginning of 1849 that the first brick and wood buildings were built on the Bund, and the bamboo and straw sheds were slowly eliminated.

With the increasing number of expatriates from various countries coming to Shanghai. The British consul was also contemplating an expansion of the concession and seeking more power. In 1848, the new British Consul in Shanghai, Ali Guo, formally requested the expansion of the British Concession. In November, China and Britain signed a contract to expand the area of the British concession to 2,820 acres.

Now the long-haired rebels are calling. From the first day when the rebels bombarded Ximen, a large number of Chinese refugees poured into the concession to seek refuge, many of these people were rich people, they were very afraid of being captured by the Taiping army, but Suzhou and Hangzhou were in trouble, desperate, these people took a large amount of money to the lease to hide.

Originally, the rules of the concession were that the Chinese could only go to the concession during the day to do business, and they had to return to the city at night, and even the workers employed by the foreign companies in the concession could not stay in the concession. However, as the saying goes, money can make the devil grind, and after a large number of wealthy families fled to the concessions, with the help of the Chinese people who believed in Christianity, they opened the way with silver dollars, and the concessions of various countries opened their doors one after another, in the name of taking in the suffering Chinese who were fleeing the war.

At the same time, foreign businessmen are also keenly aware of business opportunities, these rich families are used to living a luxurious life, they can't bear the slightest hardship, and these rich families who only flee with money need all the food, clothing, housing and transportation. Friendly international friends immediately thought of a perfect opportunity to make a fortune, that is, to provide these fleeing Chinese with good food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

It is no wonder that these Western merchants who came from afar, at this time it was the early days of the Taiping Rebellion, the trade routes along the Yangtze River were blocked, and now Suzhou and Hangzhou were also fighting, and the only land route was cut off, and many foreign merchants engaged in trade had a light business, so they had to use idle funds to build a number of simple houses along the pidgin coast, rent them to these "refugees" who were fleeing the war, and started a real estate business, and some foreign companies even rented out empty warehouses, and sold delicious Western food and clothing at the same time. The concessions of various countries are like a colorful big trading field, buying everything, and the concession is far more lively than when there were only black slaves and Indian Ah San.

In the conference hall of the British Consulate, the British Minister Wen Han looked out through the bright south window of the conference hall, and after seeing the lively scene along the pidgin, he took off the cigar he was holding in his mouth, spit out a thick white smoke and said slowly: "Gentlemen, it seems that we can no longer divide our forces to make unnecessary sacrifices in Shanghai City, and our interests are always in the concession. Look at this scene, so many Chinese are here, we need more people to help maintain order and protect the safety of the concession, I am not sure if there will be more refugees coming in later, if we want to accept more refugees, we need more people to maintain order. ”

French Minister Blomble and American Minister Marshali glanced at each other, and secretly cursed the old fox in their hearts, everyone knew that the soldiers of various countries guarding outside the concession had blocked the poor fleeing people from the lease, and those who entered the concession were rich people with spending power, Wen Han was worried that if there were more and more refugees sleeping in thatched huts outside the concession, it would be difficult for the few soldiers in the concession to control the situation, and now even the guards guarding the consulate have been sent out with half of their manpower to act as patrols on the streets to maintain order.

Moreover, after listening to the detailed reports of missionaries from various countries, the three of them began to question in their minds whether hundreds of mercenaries could help the Qing army hold the city of Shanghai. Yesterday came back the news that a patrol force of more than 1,000 people of the Qing army had been defeated by the Taiping army. Less than 100 people escaped, and the envoys of the Three Kingdoms were full of worries about the terrible combat effectiveness of the Qing army, and they could not let hundreds of soldiers risk great danger to help the weak Manchus defend the city of Shanghai, and the soldiers of each of their own countries were extremely precious, because the three countries in the Far East had only so few troops. As the Russians became more and more restless, Britain and France began to draw troops to prepare for war, and the British army in India began to mobilize, and it was impossible to commit troops to the Far East at this time.

What's more, the parliaments of various countries have decided not to get involved in China's civil war, and all countries must maintain a neutral attitude, so Blombull and Marshali heard that Lord Wenhan had the intention of retreating.

But the British Navy Captain Ho Bo said in a very untimely and loud voice: "Your Excellency. We of the British Empire cannot succumb to the threat of a small rebel force and retreat, we can mobilize the warships Spartan, Enkanto, Antelope and Greeks docked in Hong Kong, Canton, Ningbo, Xiamen and other places to gather in Shanghai, plus the Hamils and the Divine Messenger in Shanghai, we have six warships, enough to deal with those hateful yellow-skinned monkeys. ”

Lord Wenham took two deep puffs of his cigar. Said slowly: "Colonel, you have a good idea. It is necessary to mobilize warships from other ports to strengthen the defense of the Shanghai area. But you have to pay attention to the fact that the mobilization of warships is not to take action against those rebels, but to use strong force to ensure our interests in China. I will not authorize you to take any action against the rebels unless they attack the concession. ”

Blombur stood up and said, "Your Excellency, I agree with you, after all, those soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are all people who believe in God. We in France are happy to help the religious people, and I have decided to send people to recall the soldiers in the city and in the churches, and we in France will not sit idly by if the rebels do any injustice against the churches or the missionaries. But suppose these rebels are devout Christians. I am sure that they will be friends with France. Then Blombur picked up his top hat and flicked it, and then said: "Lord Wenhan, I am going back, maybe I will personally go and meet the heads of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, because I am very eager for the level of enlightenment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army that Father Weng Yige described to me. ”

Wen Han was a little anxious in his heart, if the French went to meet the people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, once any agreement was reached, it would inevitably cause the loss of British interests in the later period, but he said quietly: "Your Excellency, I hope we can go together, but it must be when the war is a little calmer, and it is too dangerous to go now." ”

Blombur smiled and said, "Perhaps, but I'm sure they'll prefer the French, who are more devout to Christianity." With that, Blombull put on his top hat, nodded to the crowd, and left the room.

Mashali also stood up, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Wu Jianzhang has become a murderer, and the rebels have become devout Christians, well, I don't know if there is anything that has changed in this shijie I don't know." But Your Excellency Wenhan, I have also decided to recall those American boys, after all, the disparity in strength is too great, and we Americans will not shed blood for a doomed war. Perhaps Lord Blombur is right, I should also go to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to try my luck, and maybe I can get an unexpected surprise. As for our poor Wu Jianzhang, we would advise him to prepare for evacuation in advance, after all, they are friends who have worked together for many years, and we don't want him to lose his head, but in this situation, I can't think of a better way to help him. Zaijian, everyone, Happy Sunday. ”

With the departure of Marshali, only the British were left in the meeting room, Lord Wenhan's face was very ugly, he said to Ali Guo, Midile, He Bo and others: "Send someone to inform the soldiers of the church and other places to return to the concession, the reaction speed of the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is beyond our imagination, he was still in Suzhou a few days ago, and now his army flag appears on the outskirts of Shanghai, it seems that he is determined to win Shanghai, and the trouble we have caused him does not pose a threat at all in his opinion, I don't want to expand the conflict, So we can only choose to avoid it temporarily! (To be continued.) )